Stanton Macdonald-Wright papers, 1907-1973

Macdonald-Wright, Stanton, 1890-1973

Painter

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Collection Information

Size: 3.1 linear feet

Summary: The papers of Southern California painter Stanton Macdonald-Wright measure 3.1 linear feet and date from 1907 to 1973. The collection contains correspondence with family, friends, and artists, including Morgan Russell, and his wife Suzanne Binon, Michel and Suzanne Seuphor, Ann and John Summerfield, and Bethany Wilson. Also found are writings, six diaries, travel journals, printed materials, and artwork.

Biographical/Historical Note

Stanton Macdonald-Wright (1890-1973) was the creator of a modernist style of painting based on pure spectral color known as chromatic abstraction or "Synchromism," who worked in New York and Los Angeles.

Provenance

The bulk of the Stanton Macdonald-Wright papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by his widow, Jean Macdonald-Wright, in 2 installments in 1995. The artist's unpublished autobiography was donated to the Archives by gallery owner David Nellis in 1978.

Related Materials

Materials microfilmed on reel LA1 and LA5 were loaned to the Archives of American Art in 1964 and returned to Stanton Macdonald-Wright after microfilming. They include a brochure on the Santa Monica Library murals and six photographs of the panels while in Macdonald-Wright's studio. There is also a 1939 exhibition catalog for "Southern California Art Project" a master's thesis on Macdonald-Wright by Dori Jean Watson (1957), and one scrapbook of photographs, clippings, and other printed materials dating from circa 1910-1964.

The Archives of American Art holds several collections related to the Stanton Macdonald-Wright papers. There is an oral interview of Stanton Macdonald-Wright conducted 1964 April 13-September 16, by Betty Hoag. There are also Stanton Macdonald-Wright Letters to Alan and Fanny Leslie, the Stanton Macdonald-Wright Collection of photographs, Stanton Macdonald-Wright Letters to Morgan Russell, Walter Houk Letters from Stanton Macdonald-Wright, and an Oral History of Stanton Macdonald-Wright by Jeanne M. Marshall for the Voice of America Conducted in 1967.

Funding

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Frederick Hammersley Foundation.

Location of Originals

Portions of the collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels LA1 and LA5 at Archives of American Art offices, and through interlibrary loan.

EAD XML

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